Stimuli for cuticle formation and ecdysis in vitro of the infective larva of Anisakis sp. (Nematoda: Ascaridoidea)

Third-stage larvae of the genus Anisakis from the fish Leionura atun (Trichiuroidei: Perciformes) form a new cuticle and moult in vitro in about 72 h. If the culture medium is Krebs-Ringer under 5% carbon dioxide in air at 37°C, relatively few moult and survival is poor. But more moult and survival is enhanced if worms are incubated in tissue culture medium 199, even if the gas phase is air, although they moult more quickly if it contains 5% carbon dioxide. In both Krebs-Ringer and 199 the benefits of high concentrations of carbon dioxide only accrue if the gas is present during the first 40 h of incubation. Worms do not feed in these media until they have moulted.     

First data on complete summer moult in the Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) in northern Italy

Summary Complete summer moult in the Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus a. arundinaceus) is a rare phenomenon, and only two cases have so far been reported for Europe. In 5 years of summer ringing in Val Campotto, Northern Italy, 12 different individuals were found in complete moult. Only the two innermost primaries are generally renewed, with more advanced stages of moult involving up to 6 primaries, the tertials and the first secondaries. A single bird controlled in three subsequent years was always found at a similar degree of primary moult.     

Aspects of the biology of the deep-sea spider crab, Dorhynchus thomsoni (Crustacea: Brachyura)

Pelagic first crab stages of the deep-sea spider crab, Dorhynchus thomsoni , are reported from mid-water samples taken at a variety of localities in the Porcupine Seabight and the Rockall Trough. Some of these samples were from hauls made near the surface over depths of 3000 m or more.
An analysis of these pelagic samples, and of benthic catches of D. thomsoni held by the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences and the British Museum (Natural History), indicate that most females and at least some males undergo the puberty prior to the third crab instar, these individuals therefore probably pass through a total of only three larval and three post-laval instars. There is at least a possibility that some individuals moult after the moult of puberty, unlike any other spider crabs.     

Life history and population biology of the giant ostracod Leuroleberis zealandica (Baird, 1850) (Myodocopida)

A population of this large myodocopid ostracod was studied over 2 yr by random core-sampling of the medium sand bottom at Kaikoura, New Zealand. Leuroleberis zealandica (Baird) passes through seven instars, it is sexually mature only in the final instar and sexes were distinguishable from instar IV. Males and females were equally abundant except in the final instar when the morphologically distinct males were rarely found. The population consists of three cohorts at any one time and each cohort appears to split into fast- and slow-growing individuals during the sixth instar resulting in life times of 1.8–2.0 and 2.7–3.1 yr, respectively. Females produce only one brood of 37 eggs on average per life time that are carried throughout the 5–6 month development period during which there is no loss of embryos. Recruitment is discrete with most broods released in midsummer when the population density may exceed 350·0.1 m^?2. A second lesser recruitment may occur in early spring in some years. Hatched juveniles released from the female grow rapidly to instar IV within 6 months and, although size increments at each moult are proportionally similar, intermoult periods tend to increase with size with some variation according to seasonal growth rates. Instar life tables constructed from instar density data showed a large difference in the frequency of embryos initiating each cohort, very different mortalities at recruitment between cohorts, and that the mortality rates between instars I and VI of different cohorts appear to be independent of density. The biology of Leuroleberis is compared with the few published accounts of myodocopid biology. In addition, several aspects of the biology of myodocopids are reviewed. These include numbers of instars in different taxa, within-instar sexual size disparities, numbers of broods per female life time, egg and brood sizes in relation to adult female size in various taxa, and the question of post-adult moulting.     

Supratidal foraminifera as ecological indicators in anthropically modified wetlands (Lagoon of Venice, Italy)

In transitional environments, the intertidal zones represent a peculiar case characterized by halophile vegetation and by a low diversity benthic community. On these areas just a few particular foraminiferal species, a class of Protoctista secreting a shell called test, can survive for a certain time out of water. They are distributed in well-defined vertical zonations with respect to mean sea level and they correspond to analogous marsh floral zonations. In particular, the Trochammina macrescens Brady + Trochammina inflata (Montagu) association characterizes the salt marsh zone above mean high water level. The potential of these taxa as bioindicators is tested, since their presence-absence-dominance differentiates the subtidal/supratidal environments. Over the last few centuries, various engineering works generated major physical changes in the Venetian Lagoon. These changes affected the natural evolution of the intertidal morphologies, the surface of which is decreasing. In an attempt to reverse this tendency, numerous artificial salt marshes have been constructed and more are under construction. In this study, the Mazzorbo artificial salt marsh, built during the second half of 1999, is considered. On its surface, 16 samples were collected along a transect line in May 2008 to verify the ecological role of this salting within the lagoon ecosystem. The sediment grain size distribution of the salt marsh reflects the dissipative role of the tide and the effect of sediment transport due to the wave and tidal action. However, the presence of only a few Trochammina individuals shows that the foraminiferal fauna did not recognise this morphology as a salt marsh. The lack of Trochammina colonisation can be related to the excessive elevation of the salt marsh surface. This hypothesis is confirmed by the lack of the salt-tolerant plant Spartina. The unsuccessful colonisation by the foraminifera seems to indicate that this artificial salting does not have the natural dynamism of the intertidal morphologies and it may only be classified as land recovery. The supratidal foraminiferal taxa can act as an ecological indicator: through their observation it is possible to verify whether an artificial salt marsh accomplishes its task of functioning as an ecological unit with the community of organisms.     

Présence de l’éocrinoïde Ascocystites Barrande (Echinodermata,Blastozoa) dans l’Ordovicien supérieur (Caradoc) de l’Anti-Atlas (Maroc) : premières données

Family Ascocystitidae, defined and established by Georges Ubaghs in 1967, includes a single genus, Ascocystites. This genus was described and figured for the first time by Barrande in 1887, from Bohemian specimens. Thereafter, specimens brought close to Ascocystites or assigned to this genus were described starting from samples collected in Bohemia in the Armorican Massif or in Portugal. The new specimens were collected in Morocco in the Eastern Anti-Atlas, within the formation of Izzeguirene of Caradoc age. The studied material includes several sandy slabes often containing many well-preserved and almost complete individuals. These levels gather individuals of various sizes, corresponding to various stages of development. The morphological study in progress should allow a specific attribution by comparison with the Bohemian and Armorican forms actually known. The Moroccan material has, in addition, the advantage of corresponding to associations of several Echinodermata groups, rich in individuals, allowing a taphonomic and possibly paleoenvironmental study. Biostratigraphically, Ascocystitidae are actually known between Middle (Armorican Massif and Portugal) and Upper Ordovician (Bohemia and now Morocco). The discovery of Ascocystitidae in the Moroccan Anti-Atlas extends their distribution, within gondwanian domain, during Middle and Upper Ordovician.     

Postembryonic growth in two species of freshwater Ostracoda (Crustacea) shows a size-age sigmoid model fit and temperature effects on development time, but no clear temperature-size rule (TSR) pattern

Although the temperature-size rule is a widespread phenomenon that describes the impact of temperature on the intraspecific size of ectotherms, what determines the wide intrinsic variation in moult increment and the intermoult period within and between Crustacea species remains unknown. This work characterizes the growth of freshwater ostracods Chlamydotheca incisa and Strandesia bicuspis under different controlled temperatures and identifies growth patterns. Animals were collected from temporary ponds in Argentina. The experiment was done at two constant temperatures: 17 and 23 °C. The intermoult time and the time from hatching to the final moult were calculated. Three different growth regression equations were tested: von Bertalanffy and two sigmoidal models (Sigmoid and Gompertz). For both species, significant differences in the duration of each instar were found by comparing individuals grown at 17 and at 23 °C. A strong temperature effect was noted on intermoult time but not on growth factors. The best model selected for the size-age relationship was a sigmoid growth type, indicating accelerated growth in the earliest juvenile instars. These results challenge the widely-accepted application of nonsigmoidal growth models and are in agreement with recent analyses of growth patterns in aquatic invertebrates when early juvenile instars are considered.     

Size-assortative pairing in Gammarus pulex (Crustacea: Amphipoda): a test of the timing hypothesis

We present the first empirical test of the timing hypothesis regarding the generation of size-assortative pairing in amphipods. The timing hypothesis proposes that, since large males are better able to afford the costs of mate guarding than small males, the former can take larger females into precopula earlier in the female moult cycle than is feasible for the latter. This leaves small males to form pairs with smaller females closer to moult, thus generating size assortment. We presented male Gammarus pulex, collected both in precopula and as singletons, with females that were (1) previously guarded and therefore near to copulatory moult and (2) previously unguarded and therefore far from copulatory moult. This comparison tested the prediction of the timing hypothesis, that size assortment should break down when the opportunity for time-based male decisions is removed, but that size assortment should occur where timing is not disrupted. Counter to the hypothesis, we found that size assortment did not break down upon removal of the time factor. Large males tended to initiate mate guarding earlier than small males in both female moult groups. However, only in the previously unguarded group did large males guard for longer than small males. This result suggests that, although size assortment occurred in all groups, the causative mechanisms that generated this pattern may differ between these groups. We therefore consider the possible importance of mechanisms such as aggression, simultaneous manipulation of females and female resistance in producing size assortment where males encounter numerous females that are close to moult. We also observed that prior recent guarding experience by males had no effect on latency to guard or size-assortative pairing. Copyright 2002 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.     

Effects of temperature elevation on the population dynamics of the upland heather psyllid Strophingia ericae (Curtis) (Homoptera: Psylloidea)

1 Cloches permeable to gas and water were used to simulate the effect of climate warming on upland populations of the heather psyllid Strophingia ericae at Moor House National Nature Reserve in the North Pennines, UK.
2 The cloches produced an average warming of about 1 °C in the heather canopy over a period of one year.
3 The density of S. ericae increased markedly in cloches within a few months of erection.
4 Species composition and numbers of potential predators were similar inside cloches and in control plots.
5 In the two year life-cycle of S. ericae , the warming effect advanced the phenology from the second to third instar in the first winter, but in the second winter, fifth instar nymphs did not moult prematurely to adult.
6 The density of S. ericae was higher on Calluna vulgaris at its boundary with Juncus squarrosus than in the pure C. vulgaris sward (in both cloched and control plots).     

Live (Rose Bengal stained) and dead benthic foraminifera from the oxygen minimum zone of the Pakistan continental margin (Arabian Sea)

Live (Rose Bengal stained) and dead benthic foraminiferal communities (hard-shelled species only) from the Pakistan continental margin oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) have been studied in order to determine the relation between faunal composition and the oxygenation of bottom waters. Samples were taken from 136 m to 1870 m water depth during the intermonsoon season of 2003 (March–April). Live foraminiferal densities show a clear maximum in the first half centimetre of the sediment only few specimens are found down to 4 cm depth. The faunas exhibit a clear zonation across the Pakistan margin OMZ. Down to 500 m water depth, Uvigerina ex gr. U. semiornata and Bolivina aff. B. dilatata dominate the assemblages. These taxa are largely restricted to the upper cm of the sediment. They are adapted to the very low bottom-water oxygen values (≈ 0.1 ml/l in the OMZ core) and the extremely high input of organic carbon on the upper continental slope. The lower part of the OMZ is characterised by cosmopolitan faunas, containing also some taxa that in other areas have been described in deep infaunal microhabitats. The contrast between faunas typical for the upper part of the OMZ, and cosmopolitan faunas in the lower part of the OMZ, may be explained by a difference in the stability of dysoxic conditions over geological time periods. The core of the OMZ has been characterised by prolonged periods of stable, strongly dysoxic conditions. The lower part of the OMZ, on the contrary, has been much more variable over time-scales of 1000s and 10,000 years because of changes in surface productivity and a fluctuating intensity of NADW circulation. We suggest that, as a consequence, well-adapted, shallow infaunal taxa occupy the upper part of the OMZ, whereas in the lower part of the OMZ, cosmopolitan deep infaunal taxa have repeatedly colonised these more intermittent low oxygen environments.     

The pattern of tube-sharing in Micro deutopus gryllotalpa (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

The amphipod crustacean Microdeutopus gryllotalpa builds tubes on solid substrata. Mature animals usually reside in individual tubes. When more than one individual is present in a tube it is always a single heterogametic pair. Tube-sharing occurs with the greatest frequency 12 h before the female's moult. Following the female's moult, most males leave the tube. The pattern of tube-sharing is the behavioural analoque of precopulation in epibenthic amphipods. It is demonstrated that (1) no more than two individuals are found in a tube because (2) one individual will not permit another individual of the same sex to cohabit the same tube, and (3) the female determines the time of tube-sharing, for most females tube-share only shortly before they moult. It is hypothesized that after the male leaves the female's tube, he cruises from tube to tube until he gains entry into the tube of another receptive female.     

Growth in the crayfish Austropotamobius pallipes (Crustacea: Astacidae)

SUMMARY. The growth of Austropotamobius pallipes was studied in the River Ouse during 1976–78. Growth of mature crayfish (>2.5 cm carapace length) was followed by determining the relationship between the growth increment at moult and premoult carapace length, together with the frequency of moulting of different categories of crayfish. These data are supplemented by the recapture of marked individuals and the measurement of crayfish held in corves in the river. Growth was limited to the period May–October when water temperatures exceeded 10°C. Growth rates of male and female crayfish are similar until maturity is reached, thereafter males moult twice per year and the majority of females moult once. No crayfish in excess of 3.7 cm carapace length has been observed to moult more than once per year. Growth of juveniles (<2.5 cm carapace length) was estimated from size frequency distributions constructed from regularly taken samples. Growth rates of juveniles showed great variation both between and within year classes. In the hot dry summer of 1976, juveniles exhibited faster growth rates (instantaneous growth rates (G) for 0+ and 1 + crayfish were 0.029 and 0.013 mg mg⁻¹ day⁻¹. respectively) than in other years. Laboratory experiments on the effect of temperature on the growth rate of 0 + crayfish were undertaken; for crayfish at 15°C. G = 0.0138 (0–53 days) and at 10°C, G = 0.0003 (0–90 days). Crayfish held at 10°C failed to undergo a single successful moult. At 20°C crayfish exhibited exponential growth over the first 40 days, with G = 0.0189. declining thereafter to G = 0.012 (40–90 days).     

The effect of extracts of Ajuga reptans on moult regulation in Periplaneta americana

The effects of extracts (petroleum ether, ethanol, water) of Ajuga reptans on the moult cycle were investigated in the last-larval instar of Periplaneta americana. Petroleum ether, as well as ethanol extracts, delay the onset of the imaginal moult. At the same time, when 100% of the control animals had moulted, only 30% of the treated animals had moulted. Water extract shows only a slight effect. In animals treated with an ethanol extract, a gradual involution of the cytoplasm of prothoracic gland cells is seen, depending on the duration of the treatment. Consequently the portion of intracellular spaces significantly increases. As seen by radioimmunoassay, at any time after the last-larval moult, ecdysteroid production by the prothoracic glands from animals treated with ethanolic Ajuga extracts stays at the low level of the intermoult animals. The fact that the secretion of the ecdysial glands remains at the low intermoult level suggests (along with other contributing facts) that there is an inhibitory influence on the gland rather than a cytotoxic effect.     

SEASONALITY, DENSITY AND DIVERSITY OF BIRDS OF A PAPYRUS SWAMP IN WESTERN KENYA

The commoner birds of a western Kenya papyrus swamp are listed. This avifauna is probably as rich as in any papyrus habitat, dominated by warblers (Sylviinae) in which interspecific competition between species of similar size is reduced by preference for swamp-edge rather than interior habitats, preference for papyrus over standing water, or vertical habitat partitioning. Comparisons with other west Kenyan habitats show that it is a specialized avifauna with low species diversity indices and few species. Density figures for common species are higher than in forest undergrowth or thicket. There is little ecological diversity of habitat in uniform stands of papyrus which form ecological islands, and this high density may be interpreted as a density compensation on a speciespoor ‘island’ compared to a species-rich ‘mainland’. Rainfall is the most seasonally variable climatic factor in west Kenyan papyrus habitats. In this climatic area of Uganda and western Kenya there is a modal egg-laying period from March to June coinciding with the long rains, and a postnuptial primary moult period from June to November, which extends into the short rains of October and November. On average, a complete moult of the remiges takes six or seven months. In general the moult of immatures begins and ends about two months later than adult moult, but birds reared during the short rains had primary moult only half complete at the beginning of the following long rains. There is very little evidence of interrupted moult. The 1969 rainfall pattern was exceptional, with the heaviest rainfall in February, and there is evidence of a correspondingly early onset of postnuptial moult in that year. Females moulted significantly earlier than males in 1969 whereas males moulted marginally earlier in other years, suggesting that female moult schedules are more flexible.     

Do Seaducks Minimise the Flightless Period?: Inter- and Intra-Specific Comparisons of Remigial Moult

Remigial moult is one of the crucial events in the annual life cycle of waterfowl as it is energetically costly, lasts several weeks, and is a period of high vulnerability due to flightlessness. In waterfowl, remigial moult can be considered as an energy-predation trade-off, meaning that heavier individuals would minimise the flightless period by increasing feather growth rate and energy expenditure. Alternatively, they could reduce body mass at the end of this period, thereby reducing wing-loading to increase flight capability. We studied timing of remigial moult, primary growth rates, flightlessness duration, and the pattern of body mass variation in 5 species of captive seaducks (Melanitta fusca, M. perspicillata, Clangula hyemalis, Histrionicus histrionicus, and Somateria mollissima) ranging in size from 0.5 to 2.0 kg. Their feather growth rates weakly increased with body mass (M^0.059) and no correlation was found at the intra-specific level. Consequently, heavier seaduck species and especially heavier individuals had a longer flightless period. Although birds had access to food ad libidum, body mass first increased then decreased, the latter coinciding with maximum feather growth rate. Level of body mass when birds regained flight ability was similar to level observed at the beginning of remigial moult, suggesting they were not using a strategic reduction of body mass to reduce the flightlessness duration. We suggest that the moulting strategy of seaducks may be the result of a compromise between using an intense moult strategy (simultaneous moult) and a low feather growth rate without prejudice to feather quality. Despite the controlled captive status of the studied seaducks, all five species as well as both sexes within each species showed timing of moult reflecting that of wild birds, suggesting there is a genetic component acting to shape moult timing within wild birds.     

Seasonally divided moult in the Barred Warbler (Sylvia nisoria) is an endogenously controlled strategy

The seasonal timing of moult in migratory birds is an adaptation to cope with time constraints in the annual cycle. Kiat and Izhaki analysed moult patterns in Palaearctic passerines and rejected the proposition that seasonally divided moult is an endogenously controlled strategy. Instead, they advocated the view that it occurs due to a flexible and opportunistic timing of moult. In contrast, we argue that Kiat and Izhaki’s analysis is flawed and that they overlooked several important facts about moult in the Barred Warbler Sylvia nisoria and other species showing seasonally divided moult. These include the facts that juveniles replace a few secondaries already in their first winter, and that the moult sequences of primaries and secondaries are decoupled compared with the typical passerine complete moult sequence. We argue that seasonally divided moult is an adaptive strategy that is largely under endogenous control.     

Two Trichosporon species isolated from Central-European mygalomorph spiders (Araneae: Mygalomorphae)

Trichosporon (Dikarya: Basidiomycota) is a genus of anamorphic yeasts typically associated with soil and water, although many species are causative agents of diseases in animals and man. Here we provide the first compelling evidence that spiders can be occasionally colonized by at least two Trichosporon species. Trichosporon dulcitum (Berkhout) Weijman 1979 was isolated from the exoskeleton of purse-web spider Atypus piceus, while Trichosporon porosum (Stautz) Middelhoven, Scorzetti & Fell 2001 was isolated from the exoskeleton of purse-web spider Atypus affinis. Both of the species were identified based on DNA sequence analysis of the host specimens displaying macroscopic signs of the superficial white mycosis on their exoskeleton. Only two specimens with macroscopic signs of superficial yeast growth were identified among the 125 individuals of A. affinis, A. piceus and Atypus muralis examined that were collected at various sites throughout the Czech Republic. The consistent burrow microclimate, uninterrupted occupancy of the single burrow for several subsequent years, and presence of prey remnants in the burrow below the purse-web may play a role in the course of infection of the mygalomorphs examined. The phylogenetic relationships of Trichosporon species are analyzed, concluding that association with invertebrates clusters predominantly among four groups of closely related species in independent Trichosporon clades.